Baby Chaleco ~ Chic Baby Bibs

I was fortunate to be chosen to review one of the prized waterproof baby bibs from BabyChaleco.com. When I received my Baby Chaleco, I was thrilled with the stylish and fancy material used. It is paired so eloquently with the whimsical 'car into the tunnel' design, which by the way, that tunnel is a pocket. Not 100% functional for many things, but my son likes to find things himself, so I invented a fun game by hiding his spoon in there and he would try to do the same.

You could also stuff a wet nap in there for when they are finished eating to wipe down the baby's face. I know my son can never sit still while eating (especially at parties), so I would have to chase him all over, then pick him up, find my diaper bag, and struggle to get a wipe and wipe his face down. Having this simple little pocket saves me much running around.

The Baby Chaleco features an absorbent, poly-cotton blend on top, and a 100% nylon liner underneath. So, all the drool will get absorbed into the material and stay there without soaking the baby's clothes underneath.

Personally, I not only go through clothes like no one else, but also bibs, because my son will drool right through the bib and onto his clothes. I can never just put him in a cute outfit and have it stay that way for long. Or I have to cover that outfit up with a possibly, but most often not, matching bib. And let's face it, family parties/events always seem to happen right when baby is in the peak of cutting a tooth.

But let's be honest moms out there, after the age of 6 months, there are no outfits that you can buy in stores with matching bibs. Why is it only cute for an infant that can't even sit up to have a bib and outfit set? Plus those bibs are just for fashion, and barely large enough to cover their necks.

Other bibs with this same waterproof concept that I have found in stores are usually pull over kinds with no snaps or velcro. However the problem with those is that they are never snug enough to the neck and my son will drool underneath the bib anyways. So, they are just pointless. Also, my son tends to pull on bibs of any style, however with the Baby Chaleco it was just like another shirt. He didn't even realize he was wearing a bib, so he left it alone as if I had put a vest or sweater on him.

The Baby Chaleco's fit very snuggly (but not too snuggly lol) around the baby's neck with an easy-to-snap two button enclosure over one shoulder. This makes getting the bib on and off very easy because the neck and arm hole open to one wider opening. It also makes the bib what I would like to call "pull-proof." This feature also helps when the baby is done eating and covered in whatever he was eating, because you can lift it straight off of him instead of pulling it over his head, which usually causes food to get stuck in the hair or on the forehead.

The Baby Chaleco is very chic and stylish looking, and as long as my son is wearing blue/black jeans, khakis, or blue/black sweatpants (which is just about all the options he has), this bib matches all his outfits. The shirt matching is not at all an issue, because it wraps competely around him covering his entire shirt. The velvet material in back is a very fancy touch. I was able to show my son's new baby bib off at a recent family party for a very wealthy relative, and everyone was in awe at the style and craftiness of this bib. Well, that was after I told them it was a bib. They thought it looked like a little vest, but that's because it does! I can even leave him in the bib while he is running around and no one can tell the difference. He looks just as good as ever.

You would never know that he is wearing a baby bib it looks so good. I recommend this stylish baby bib for any mom with toddlers, because it is stylish yet affordable. And it will save you loads of hassle time during family parties.

Do you have a Baby Chaleco? What do you love about yours?
If not, would you want one? Why?
Visit their website to enter to win your very own Baby Chaleco.

Decluttering ~ Day 1

Yes, I will be updating my progress everyday of my decluttering project. I outlined the steps here for this, but in case you missed it, they are:

My Plan to Declutter Our New Place

1. Everything that is not 100% essential to our everyday survival is being moved into the basement here.
2. Each day, I will bring up one bag at a time and go through it.
3. I will only keep things that are essential, and not keep things simply for material or sentimental reasons.

So, that is the plan, and I am asking you all to help encourage me to keep at it. Emails, comments, tweets, anything to keep me motivated, updating, and moving. This is a new year, and I am determined to not force my kids to live in clutter anymore.

Okay, well rant over, this is supposed to be an update. What have I gotten done today? Well, I finally went through Ronin's old toys to make room for the new ones he got for the holidays. Here is a pic of the box I brought over to Salvation Army.

It is hard to tell from the picture, but this box is really deep. I counted and it is about 20 toys in all (maybe a bit more). Not a bad start in my mind.

Have you donated or decluttered anything today?

My New Rakkiddo Shoe Wheel

During my move, I finally received my Rakkiddo Shoe Wheel. Haven't heard of this yet? Well, I won mine from Mommy Daddy Blog, and it is amazing.

The Rakkiddo Shoe Wheel is made by Rakku Designs, and it is the kid's version of their regular sized adult shoe wheel. Kids sized or not, I like it because we all do not have that many shoes. My son's shoes can all fit into one compartment, my daughter has only about 3 pairs she wears on a normal basis, hubby has only one, and I have downsized to 3 pairs as well (not including my slippers).

Unfortunately, hubby's size 15 1/2 shoes do not fit in the wheel, which is ok though because he would rather just be able to slip his shoes on and off quickly. He has been doing a great job of remembering too, because otherwise I have a fit when I walk into the kitchen barefoot and step on ice and snow that he has tracked in.

My mom also brought over 7 pairs of crocheted slippers that I put into one of the compartments for guests that come over. I am not going to be very big on sweeping and mopping three times a day once the baby is crawling. So, I will be enforcing a no shoes rule.

I'm back. Did you miss me?

Of course, I have to start with a cute for the day.

Above is a pic of my son being his adorable self, playing with my cell phone.

How can you not love those eyes?

Now onto my update... we are here, we are getting settled, and the Internet is back on. *Angels singing* Very poor planning on our part, however with a 1 year old, winter storms brewing, and living in a poorly heated/insulated apartment, can you really blame us for up and leaving as soon as we signed the lease to our new place? All I needed for motivation was to wake up the next morning, realize the heat was cranked to 90, but we were all still bundled up and freezing, and to feel my son's ice cold hands that I can never keep covered.

By that night, we had the two kids beds, the couch, the spare mattress, and all of our electronics moved into the new apartment. I could barely get out a post saying that we had signed the lease. However my family's health was so much more important than any of that. I can sort of relate it to a fire, only much much colder and none of our stuff was burnt.

So now, we are here with the good majority of our things moved over, and just some more of the clutter to pack up and move over here. Yes, we are taking our clutter with us. However, we have a plan in place for getting through it all.

My Plan to Declutter Our New Place

1. Everything that is not 100% essential to our everyday survival is being moved into the basement here.
2. Each day, I will bring up one bag at a time and go through it.
3. I will only keep things that are essential, and not keep things simply for material or sentimental reasons.

I have many tools and advantages at my disposal now to help me keep up with this new plan. First, as I mentioned in my previous post, Salvation Army is right across the street! A declutterer and frugal shopper's dream, right? Also, this apartment comes equipped with a dumpster right in the complex. But of course, I think it is all possible, because of the basement storage space we have. No one else uses it right now, so we are free to store as much as we need to for now. But of course my goal is to tone it down to practically nothing within the next few months.

If you want to see some pictures of our new place, click here. So far they are all of the place empty before we moved anything in. I have a few as we started moving things in, but my flickr upload limit is practically reached just with these. So, I will wait to post better ones instead.

Yay I am Moving!

Well, finally... the day has come that I was not expecting. We were finally accepted for a new apartment. We have been looking and looking and waiting (not so patiently) for something in our price range (low income) and cleaner than where we are now. I am not proud of my current abode, and do not post many pics or videos because of it.

However that is all about to change. My MIL's contact at a real estate agent actually helped us out and found us an amazingly clean and cheap apartment ($825 a month, including heat and hot water). For those of you not familiar with the market here in Central Mass, that is a deal!! Right now we are paying $650 with nothing included, and the place is a dump. Really the building should be condemned like the one next door was. I have felt depressed and guilty forcing my children to live here in such conditions, but tried my damndest and more to make it homey, comfortable, and clean. Mostly my son is confined by a puzzle gate on the area rug in the living room, which has been getting ever more difficult with his newly found walking skills.

So, anyways, I never held my breath that our credit would be accepted anywhere better, and sat here and listened while my parents, brothers, and other family members knocked the only place we could afford or be accepted to live in. (Personally, if you are not willing to help out, then really you should have no say in the situation we are in now.) But that's a different issue that will soon be history.

Of course, knowing my mother and the perfect rental units she lived in because of being a military family, she will find something, if not many things, to complain and irk me about. She means well, but she doesn't always know when to keep her perfect opinions to herself.

The new place is small, ok much smaller, than where we are now. However, I have been begging hubby to help me downsize on our clutter forever now. This is the exact incentive we need. Also, the best part about our new apartment is... Salvation Army is right across the street! How much more perfect can it get? I can donate all that old clothes from high school that I will never wear again (and never let my daughters wear), and then go inside and find some real deals on maternity clothes that actually fits me. I am happy.

So, yeah, I will try my best and keep up with posting as this was very sudden and last minute. I am a bit upset with myself that I still don't have reserve posts, however this way I can post updates on the move and how everything is going with 'the fam' in our new place. Wish us luck cramming into a smaller apartment, and if you have any tips about decorating for a very small apartment, please feel free to email me or comment here with them.

MultiTasking Tips

I am kind of a multi-task guru. I have been known to calculate many things in my head while talking to someone or reading an article. I have no idea how my mind works so well, but I am thankful it does. I want to share some tips about activities or times that can be multi-tasked simply. No unnecessary mind tricks here.

Simple and quick, there are certain everyday things that can be combined by nearly anyone, especially mothers like myself.

Filing/Sorting ~ TV Watching
Are you like my mother and tape (or DVR) all your favorite shows that are on during the day and watch them at night after the kids go to bed? Well, this is a perfect time to tackle that stack of papers that is always staring you in the face. I sometimes use my bed or living room floor to spread everything out while I sort, toss, and go through my important and junk papers. You can do this during the whole show, or just during commercial breaks.

Phone Calls ~ Dish Washing
Although phone calls can be combined with an array of other things as well, I personally suggest combining them with dish washing. While washing dishes, rarely do you have to think about it, so your mind is free to carry on a conversation (or two).

Car decluttering ~ Waiting during travel
Whether it is waiting to pick up the kids from school or in line at the drive-thru, there are a multitude of times during a commute that will allow for spare minutes to clean up the car. Often this is a neglected part of our day, especially if you live in apartment like I do. I do not have a garage (or even parking lot) to use while cleaning out my car. So, when there are times I know I will just be sitting there waiting, I always have empty plastic bags that I can use to fill with trash or car clutter. Then when I get home or to the store, I simply throw the bag of trash away or bring in the clutter items and put away where they belong.

Hygeine ~ Bathroom Cleaning
I have always had a habit, since I could reach the bathroom mirror, of wiping the mirror down while I brushed my teeth. Now that I am in my own place, that habit has extended to wiping down the sink, toilet, replacing the toilet paper, and even fixing the towels (yes I have a bit of OCD). I have often thought of occasionally washing the tub and shower out at this time as well. So, if you are in the bathroom and have at least one hand to spare (like brushing your teeth, waiting for the curling iron to heat up, or even while using the facilities) use this time to tidy up a bit around you.

List making ~ Refrigerator/ Pantry cleaning
Ok, I am guilty of not following this one, but it's still a good idea. While you are making your grocery shopping list for the week or month, clean out expired/unused items as you go along. This will clear up space for items you need or are planning on buying. This will also make put away time easier when you get home.

Toy cleanup ~ Playtime with kids
I love to sit on the floor and play with my son, and ever since he has become more mobile and independent there is less need for me to be as involved. However I still love to be there. So, while I am now watching my lil one run around and discover things for himself, I take that time to sort and wash his toys (the ones he is not playing with of course). This allows me to make sure his playtime is fun and safe, while also allowing me to stay involved in his days without being overbearing.